Nails on a Blackboard?
 We all know Fran Drescher of The Nanny...one of those voices that is instantly recognizable. Not recognizable because it's a wonderfully, rich, warm voice: recognizable because it is so obnoxiously painful to our ears. Like fingernails on a blackboard.... Can you imagine that voice chairing a meeting in a boardroom or negotiating a contract or giving the summation to a jury? Excessive nasality does not lend credibilty to your image. Nasality also marrs the potential resonance in your speaking voice because it raises the pitch of your voice. Rid yourself of nasality and you are on the first step to achieving a resonant speaking voice -- not overbearing or loud, but warm and rich in depth.
Just in case you're wondering, nasality is too much sound coming through the nose when we speak; denasality, on the other hand, is when little or no air comes through the nose because of a cold, sinus allergies, or a physiological problem like a deviated septum.
Click here for more information on achieving that warm, rich, matuire-sounding speaking voice that's just waiting to come out!
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Greetings,
I've dedicated this newsletter to understanding, testing for, and eliminating nasality. You don't have to live in North Jersey or one of New York's 5 boroughs to have a nasal voice. Take the test below to see if you're a culprit!
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| Test Yourself for Nasality |
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While most people are not plagued by excessive nasality, there are a surprisingly large number of people who send a few of their vowel sounds -- the long e, the long a, and/or the short a - - up through the nose where they don't belong. Take this test. Very gently (no pressure), place a finger on each side of your nose and say the word 'he'. (See picture.) Did your nose vibrate? If not, good. If so, not so good. Now say the word 'day'. Did you vibrate?
There are only 3 sounds in the English language that indeed should vibrate in your nose: the m, the n, and the ng. If you say the word ring, for example, your nose will vibrate, although it shouldn't be excessive. If you find that you are vibrating on certain words when you shouldn't be, try the exercise below and practice eliminating that whiny twang. |
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| Eliminating Nasality |
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While I've included a link for you to see and hear the first exercise on eliminating nasality from the Voicing It! dvd, for those of you unable to view video, I will describe the process. Place your hands under your ears on the hinge of your jaw. Tighten your jaw, clench your teeth together and feel the knot. Now drop your jaw, unclench your teeth and feel the knot disappear. When your jaw is unclenched, the mouth is relaxed. For this exercise, I want you to first exaggerate the nasal sound. Tighten your jaw and say the word 'he', sending it up through your nose. Your lips will possibly curl to achieve this. (Yes, it will sound silly.) Now I want you to drop your jaw, relax your mouth, place your tongue on the floor of your mouth, the tip against the inside of your bottom front teeth, and say the word 'he' again. I feel like I'm going under it at this point. When I send it through my nose I feel like I'm going over it. Practice this with various words and train your inner ear to hear the difference between the whiny sound and the warmer sound.
We will be adding a new page to our website on eliminating nasality;but, before it is published we wanted our subscribers to have the first look. Trying to describe in words an exercise involving sound is not easy. If you are serious about getting rid of your nasality, watch the clip on the link below that so that you not only hear what is happening but see it as well. |
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Click here for the video exercise... |
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